The Portland daily press., 1887-07-20

| C..f'Rs othd DEcSscQ HIS Htdu uOWu
against the ground by his great strength and
the weight OF his enormous body, biting at
Ihe Dull nose and tearing the flesh from his
neck and shoulders with his long, sharp
Iaas. a,, ms position was maintained for at
least hVe minutes, the bull Struggling des-
| perately 70 Tree his head, but being unable to
accomplish II, while the bear put forth every
muscle TO press the bulls body 10 the ground.
Inc blood poured from the BULBS nostrils In
great streams, but the bear had as Net re-
ceiyed no apparent injury.
presently both animals paused In their
desperate struggle, as each was blown and
rapidly approaching exhaustion. The bear
contestant As yet during the fight neither
animal had uttered a sound, except their
| loud and labored breathing. The cessation
In the struggle had probably been Of ten min
utes duration, when suddenly the bull made
one desperate lunge, broke the motiOnless
put terrible embrace, hurled the bear from
MS neads and backed away probably ten
PAGES. The bear lifted his huge form on his
| haunches and stood ready for the next as
sault The herd Of cattle had by this time
/ gathered In from the plain and surrounded
the combatants, moaning and believing and
/ paving up the ground, but maintaining a
terrified neutrality. From my position in
the tree watched the exciting scene with
| breathless interest.
THE bull did not remain at rest a moment
a1ter backing away for new charge, but,
/ rendered furious by his wounds he gathered
all his energies, and with an unearthly cry
rushed with impetuous force and ferocity
| upon the bear. The latter attempted to use
the tactics that had served him so well at the
first onslaught, but the second charge Of the
pull was irresistible in spite Of the bears
terrific blows with his paws, and the grizzly
went down IN the dust before his crazed an
tagonlst, and vainly tried TO defend himself.
| The bull thrust his horns in under the bear,
| caught him in the belly with one of the
snarp weapons, and, with one furious sweep
OF his head tore the grizzly open until his
entrails protruded. Then the grizzly rose to
MS feet, and with roar that made my blood
run cold, closed with his terrible enemy, and
Tor long time the two fought, their cries
and the cries Of the surrounding cattle being
frightful to listen to.
While the fight was going on, two great
eagles appeared from some mysterious erie,
and sailed and circled above the scene
OF the conflict, leisurely and gradually
dropping nearer to the earth. AlmOst stimuli
taneously with the appearance Of the eagles,
| saw the heads Of half dozen hungry
wolves emerge from the bushes where the
fight had begun. knew that the battle must
soon end, and that the eagles and the wolves
had scented the contest from afar, and knew
by their infallible instinct that it must result
IN choice prey for them The presence of
these hungry birds and beasts Of prey added
to the terror Of the bloody conflict
The terrible fight continued. The ground
was torn up and covered with blood for
many feet around. Both animals were griev-
ously wounded. 1t was plain that neither
could hold out much longer. Manned and
CORY, they fought with the certainty Of death
the bear rolling over and over in the dust,
Valnly endeavoring to avoid the fatal horns
Of his adversary, and the bull ripping, thrust
ing and tearing the grizzly with irresistible
ferocity. AT last as II determined to end the
conflict, the bull drew tback, lowered his
head and made third terrific charge, but,
blinded by the streams Of blood that poured
down his face, he missed his mark stum-
bled and rolled headlong on the ground. In
spite OF his frightful injuries and great ex-
haustlon, the bear turned quickly and sprang
upon his prostrate enemy. He seemed to
have been suddenly lnyigorated by this turn
| Of the battle in his favor. With merclless
T sweeps Of bis huge claws he tore the flesh
in great seS4r0m the BULBS upturned
side. The advantage the bear thus obtained
| over the bull seemed t9 be understood by the
herd, and the believing increased, dirt was
thrown about In clouds, ana one Dig COW
| drew near the struggling adlmals, and be-
ieyed for moment that she, Intended TO 90
to the aid OF the herds prostate leader, so
nerce was her aspect and actpns, out sne
simply. cireled around the bear aHd the bull,
believing and paving. In the meantime
Dotn the eagles and the wolves grew impa-
tient OF the delay in the battles ending. The
former would now and then swOOp down, as
II TO hurry up the finish, ,uttering harsh cries,
and some waiting wolf would steal from his
| NONCAt anu uhdhc u ClDStE anu more cOurdQ-
eous reconnaissance, swapping and snarling
IN apparent disappointment.
Inc bull and the bear rolled over and
over In the terrible death struggle. Nothing
was now TO be seen but heavy CORY mass,
| dimly perceptible through the dust. AS 10
weight, the two fierce and determined brutes
must have been about equally matched. The
Dear mad the advantage of greater agility
and the expert and telling use of two terri
PIE weapons, his teeth and claws, while the
1 hrll OraQQnfQd MOI inf ,.,1
| greater powers of endurance. The unfOrtu-
| nate result of the bulls last charge on the
| grizzly indicated that the latter's qualities
would in a few minutes more settle the fight
| against the bull, and was in momentary ex-
| pectation OF seeing such termination when
to my astonishment saw the bear relax his
| efforts, roll over from the body of his pros
trate foe, and dreg himself feebly away from
the spot His appearance was sickening to
me, so frightfully had he been ripped and
torn by the BULBS horns. The grizzly had no
sooner abandoned his attack on the bull
than the latter was on his feet, bearing him
self as erect and fierce as ever. If the bears
appearance was sickening the bulls was
douDly so. lie was covered with blood from
his forehead to his rump, and his flesh and
skin actually hung in strips and tatters from
his head and sides Giving his
head shake that scattered blood in
shower about him, and gave him a mo-
msnts sight Of the reeking bear In front of
him. as he lowered his head for the fourth
time, and again made one of his terrific
| charges. When the dying bear had dragged
himself away from the bull the eagles actu
ally swooped down upon HIM, and the wolves
| sprang from the thicket into the opening and
| prepared to pounce upon him. The bull
scattered the inpatient birds and animals as
| he swept on his final charge against the griz-
| ely, and they hastily departed, shrieking and
snarling. The cattle again added their bel
lowing to that Of the bulls, and acted as If
/ they understood the favorable turn the fight
had taken. As the bull hurled himself against
the grizzly. the latter braced himself for a
desperate struggle. He struck out wildly
with his paws, and the bull fell back with
the force Of the grizzly's blows, presenting a
CHASTITY spectacle. His tongue hung from
his mouth a mangled mass of shreds. His
face was stripped bare Of flesh to the bone.
and his eyes were torn from their sockets.
The charge was equal disastrous to the bear,
he being ripped completely open, and he
sank to the ground, writhipg in his agony.
The indomitable courage of the bull here
prevailed, Blinded and crippled as he was,
ne made but a slight pause after his fourth
assault, and then dashed wildly at his foe
again. The grizzlv's roar now seemed to be
one OF terror. With last frantic effort
he sought to make his escape, scrambliDg
and and :. struggling through the dust.
was gone. The bull plunged his horns again
and again into the huge form Of the dying
brute, as he lay stretched helpless In the
dust. The bears muscles quivered and con-
tracted. He drew his immense paws up
once or twice in cOnvulsive clutches, raised
his huge head, gave one agonizing grOan, and
fell back dead The victorious bull raised
his bloody, horribly disligured crest, gave
voice to deep below. and shaking his head
triumphantly turned and walked away His
progress was slow and painful, and he stop
ped and turned at short intervals and listen
ed as If to know whether his foe would re-
new the battle. He walked nearly lCO yards
with his herd gathering and believing about
hin. Presently his head dropped from its
proud position. He spread his legs apart, as
II to brace himself against the weakness
that was stealing upon him. Suddenly he
fell, as If he had been shot, a mangled,
bleeding mass, and was soon dead.
The bull had no sooner left the dead bear
than the eagles and wolves were screeching.
snarling and fighting on the carcass. The
bull had not been dead five minutes when
flock Of vultures dropped down in their mys-
terious way upon his body. When climbed
out OF the tree to leave the scene Of that ter
rife combat the herd Of cattle had disap-
peared on the plain, and two great skeletons
were all that marked the field Of conflict"
Queer Brldegrooms.
Manchester Eng1 COurier1